RJ Hampton played for the NZ Breakers in their pre-season matches against NBA teams in 2019. Photo / Getty
RJ Hampton played for the NZ Breakers in their pre-season matches against NBA teams in 2019. Photo / Getty
The resurgence of the New Zealand Breakers, coupled with the easing of travel restrictions, could see the Kiwi side back on the court against NBA talent again soon.
The Breakers were last involved in NBL crossover pre-season games against NBA teams in 2019, when they took on the Oklahoma CityThunder and the Memphis Grizzlies, after playing against the Phoenix Suns the year prior. After a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19, the NBLxNBA series resumed late last year when the Adelaide 36ers took on the Thunder and Suns.
Should a larger-scale series be brought back later this year, the Breakers would be strong candidates to be involved, and club owner Matt Walsh told the Herald there was an appetite for that on the ground in the US - particularly given the Breakers’ success with the NBL Next Stars programme.
“We’ve got just about every team in the NBA wanting to play us in pre-season, because now they know we’re going to have a high-profile Next Star for next season. So, it’s certainly been a lot of fun,” Walsh said.
“One of the things that we wanted to do as an ownership group was to put the Breakers on the scene in terms of a global basketball entity and I think we’ve done that and I think there’s still work to be done.”
Walsh confirmed the Breakers were in discussions with three high-profile young players to fill the Next Star spot on their roster for the 2023-24 NBL season, and expected to have confirmation of that role within the next couple of months.
Rayan Rupert of the Breakers. Photo / Photosport
The team have had success with their previous Next Stars. A programme created by the NBL to allow teams to provide another pre-NBA avenue for promising young talent as an alternative to the US collegiate programme, this year is the third in which the Breakers have been involved.
Their first Next Star, RJ Hampton, was drafted with the 24th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. Ousmane Dieng was then selected with the 11th pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Hugo Besson - who was signed as an import rather than a Next Star as he joined the team in the same season as Dieng - was drafted with the 58th pick in the 2022 draft.
This year, Rayan Rupert is projected to be drafted anywhere from eighth to somewhere in the early 20s. The most recent ESPN mock draft has the young Frenchman as the No 16 pick.
“I think one of the things we should be most proud of is, we’ve certainly had more success than anybody with the Next Stars programme. We’re going to continue that... I think Rayan’s going to be a top 12, top 10 pick for sure,” Walsh said.
“The good thing is once you have kind of proved what you’re able to do with these guys, agents and players come to you. We’ve had a little bit of that.”
Having watched the Breakers turn their fortunes around in 2023 from the States, Walsh was hopeful of being able to return to New Zealand to see his team in their first NBL grand final since he took over when the Breakers take on the Sydney Kings in their search for another banner.
The Breakers and Kings, who finished the regular season as the top two teams on the ladder, will kick off their best-of-five series on March 3, after both coming through their respective semifinals in three games. As the No 1-ranked team in the regular season, Sydney will get home-court advantage.
The Breakers will host game two of the series at Spark Arena on March 5, and game four (if required) on March 12.
